Wednesday, January 23, 2013


THQ Chopped Into Tiny Pieces, Scattered To The Winds
Bankrupt Agoura Hills-based videogame publisher THQ has been chopped up into pieces, and scattered to the winds, after an auction sale of the firm's assets Wednesday. According to a letter to THQ employees from CEO Brian Farrell, obtained by Kotaku, THQ did not go to a single bidder in a 22 hour auction process yesterday--and instead, will be going to multiple bidders. The letter said that Sega agreed to purchase Relic; Koch Media agreed to purchase Volition and Metro; Crytek agreed to purchase (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)

OneRoof Energy Lands $30M From South Korean Investor
San Diego-based OneRoof Energy, an operator of residential solar finance programs, said Wednesday that it has raised an additional $30M in a funding round. The round came from current investor Hanwha Group, which is based in South Korea. According to OneRoof, the new funding will go towards business development, including to expand into new markets, develop new proprietary technologies and strengthen dealer support. OneRoof said it expects to supply solar power to more than 10,000 homes in 2013 (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 (More)(Full story)

SteelHouse Trumpets Conversion Rates
Los Angeles-based SteelHouse, the developer of advertising targeting and behavioral marketing technology, is showing off some of its conversion rates, saying today that its clients are seeing 21 percent click through rates by using its technology. The firm develops technology to better target online consumers based on their behavior, allowing brands to retarget and otherwise engage with possible customers. SteelHouse said that its rich media A2 ad format--being used by brands such as Rosetta Sto (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)

Hackathon Targets Orange County Web Developers
In one of the newest "hackathons" to hit Southern California, a group of companies are looking to draw Orange County software developers to a new hackathon, geared around WebRTC, the open "Web Real Time Communications" framework aimed at helping developers create voice and video chat applications. Huntington Beach-based AnyMeeting, the provider of web conferencing tools, Influxis, a live streaming and real time application hosting provider, as well as TokBox, which develops an online video platf (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)

GumGum Snags Amazon Vet For Sales Efforts
GumGum, the developer of in-image advertising technology headed by Ophir Tanz, is bolstering its sales efforts, and has hired an Amazon veteran to head up western sales. According to GumGum, Matt Weisbecker has been appointed Vice President, Western Sales for GumGum, a new position for the company. Weisbecker was previously Director National Sales & Strategy for Amazon Media Group, working on the entertainment vertical for such properties as Amazon Mobile, IMDb, IMDb Mobile and Kindle/Kindle F (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)

How Google's Old Offices Are Becoming A Tech Hub, with ROC's Walter Grieves
In a sign of the growth of the Silicon Beach technology world, last year, Google moved its headquarters out of a space on Arizona Avenue in Santa Monica, and into a new fancy headquarters space in Venice. However, it appears the spirit of innovation and technology didn't leave Google's old space: instead, that office has become Real Office Centers (realofficecenters.com), an office center which on a recent Friday looked to have become somewhat of a hub for Silicon Beach's startup and investors. (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)

PromoJam Debuts New Self Service Social Promotions Tool
If you are a millenial entering the workforce, what would you be most comfortable with -- a tool designed to work and look like a social network, or a tool built around an old fashioned corporate enterprise software UI? With its latest product release, Los Angeles-based PromoJam is gambling on the first, and made managing and running social promotions much more like inhabiting a social network than running enterprise software. PromoJam debuted its brand new, self-service version of its soci (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)

DRX Acquired By Connecture
DRX, a provider of web-based shopping and enrollment software for Medicare health plans, which was based in Los Angeles, has been acquired by Wisconsin-based Connecture, the companies said today. Connecture develops sales automation technology for the health insurance industry. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Connecture said that DRX powers the Medicare.gov PlanFinder and Online Enrollment Center, in addition to providing services to health plans, pharmacy benefit managers (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)

Photopoll Launches App For Social Voting
Los Angeles-based mobile developer TenFarms said this morning that it has launched a new, photo-focused polling app called Photopoll. The new app lets users share photos and then ask questions and polls around any topic. The startup said the app can be used for such things as getting opinions on a new hair style, what outfit to wear, or any other topic. TenFarms is led by Nils Forsblom. The app runs on iOS.
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)

Allergan Buys MAP Pharmaceuticals
Irvine-based Allergan and MAP Pharmaceuticals said this morning that Allergan has agreed to acquire MAP Pharmaceuticals, in a deal worth approximately $958M. Allergan said it will pay $25.00 per share for publicly held MAP Pharmaceuticals. MAP Pharmaceuticals develops biopharmaceuticals, with its lead product being LEVADEX, an orally inhaled drug under trials for treating migraines in adults.
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)

ParkMe Gets New Funding Round
ParkMe, the startup provider of parking information and data founded by Sam Friedman and Alex Israel, announced this morning that it has raised a new round of funding, from Angeleno Group, Fontinalis Partners and IDG Ventures. As part of the funding, Daniel Weiss of Angelo Group has joined the company's board of directors. ParkMe said the new funds will go towards expanding its international footprint and grow its U.S. presence, including building out its technology team, business development, a (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 (More)(Full story)

ACTIVE Network Names VP
San Diego-based ACTIVE Network said Monday that it has named Rick Binford as VP of Strategic Marketplace Development of its Business Solutions Group. Active, which operates a range of cloud-based registration, event management, and other similar services for sports, community groups, centers, and others, said Binford joins the company from Experient, a full services event management services provider. Active said Binford was President of the Event Management Services division at Experient, and h (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2013(Full story)